Source: Daily_Mail
Sportsmail's Colin Young: The day I was transformed into a Cisse
The phone goes. It's the boss. 'Djibril Cisse owns a fashion shop. We want you to go down there and get him to dress you, let him bling you up a bit.' [LNB]Now, I have seen Djibril Cisse's wedding photos - red suit, matching trilby, shiny white shoes - and I have seen him turn up for training in his 'casual' attire. When you see him, you have to stand back and take in the view. [LNB] Before: Colin Young, smart Sportsmail reporter.[LNB]After: Colin Young, king of bling.[LNB] No wonder, then, that the call from the sports desk left them chuckling and me with a heavy heart. I knew friends and colleagues would find the resulting photographs extremely amusing - although my mortified children and wife might not. And it may have taken him some time to fix up a meeting, but Cisse was up for it, too. [LNB]So to the unscrupulous member of the Sunderland press office who has distributed these disturbing images, and to my colleagues who have threatened me with blackmail and claim I'm committing professional suicide, I say this: I care not. Cisse liked the cut of my Djib. [LNB]DJBRIL CISSE EXCLUSIVE: I'm no fashion victim - Sunderland have nothing to fear[LNB]Cisse's shop is called The Pr9ject - the '9' represents his shirt number at Sunderland - and he has taken the brave decision to base it in a row of modern units in Newcastle's Forth Street, behind Central Station, opposite The Telegraph pub. [LNB]The France international is a frequent visitor to the shop, which is run on a daily basis by manager Emmy Offiong. 'His schedule at this time of the season means he is in less,' she said. 'But he is very hands-on, he is always very relaxed and calm, loves meeting and talking to the customers, making suggestions, putting clothes back on the hangers and marking the prices.' [LNB] Cap that: Djibril Cisse is sceptical about the headgear...[LNB]And as if to demonstrate the point, Cisse helped Emmy choose the outfits to 'model'. The first ensemble is meant to be a casual look to replace a working suit. So here we go . . . [LNB]The star of the show is the Hype Means Nothing T-shirt, £55, with a picture of rapper Kanye West on the front. This Paris-based label, which also features similar shots of Barack Obama, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin, is currently flying off the racks in Pr9ject and the boutique is one of the few in the country to stock it. [LNB]This outfit was completed by white Front trainers (£40), black Qhuit jeans (£70) and a black zip-up top by Amalguessous which comes in at £440. [LNB]To watch Colin Young's exclusive video interview of Djibril Cisse in his shop, click here[LNB]When myself and photographer Graham Chadwick spotted a Marvel Comics jacket, with similar baseball cap, I just had to try it on. Cisse - who was dressed in black adidas tracksuit and a Homer Simpson T-shirt he had bought in America - looked distinctly unimpressed. [LNB]And no wonder. I looked like a cross between Timmy Mallett and Kevin The Teenager. [LNB]Cisse's disapproving 'tut' echoed round the shop. 'Never to the side,' he says, making me shift the large cap almost over my eyes. 'That was the Eighties.' Which, in fairness, is probably the last time I wore a baseball cap. [LNB] ...while Young rules out a £3,000 pair of trainers...[LNB] [LNB] ...and provides comic relief in the Marvel jacket.[LNB]The brief for the second outfit was to find clothes which offered a more colourful insight into the wares on sale in Pr9ject. Cisse - and Emmy in particular - went to town, coming up with an outfit which would have given me little change from £1,300. [LNB]Even then she spared me the £3,000 trainers, a copy of a pair recently purchased by Obafemi Martins' agent, and instead paraded me in the gold, yes gold, Supra trainers (£95) which are the most popular shoes in the shop. [LNB]The outrageous Red Monkey jeans really caught the eye, but then that is probably the intention at £699. These are handmade denim, can never be washed, only steam-cleaned, and they eventually mould to the shape of your legs. When I popped down to see Cisse, he was very impressed. It was only a slight nod in my direction, but it was good enough for me. [LNB]Nothing will ever convince me to buy the Christian Audigier T-shirt, and it was not just the £420 price label which put me off. American rap stars, actors or presidents yes, garish colours in Extra Large, I don't think so. [LNB] Looking good, Mr Y...[LNB]After us, Cisse's next appointment was to meet 'a friend' from the Hype Means Nothing range at the station. And, with true Cisse extravagance, he climbed into his enormous blue Rolls-Royce and drove the full half-mile round the one-way system to fetch his colleague. [LNB]So why does a millionaire footballer spend his time and money on a venture which could, if Sunderland fail to offer him a permanent deal, be holding a closing-down sale at the end of May? [LNB]'It is to show the way I see clothes and fashion to the people,' said Cisse. 'It is a different style but it is what I like and my advice to people would be to just come and look, see if they see something. If they don't . . .' Another shrug of the shoulders. [LNB]'The boutique is something I've had planned for a while. I come in after training for a few hours if I can, have a mooch around, help out a bit and go back home. [LNB]'We have items here you will not find anywhere else. The idea is exclusivity and something different. If there was one word for it, it is different.'[LNB] If the shirt fits: Cisse offers a helping hand to his less than willing model...[LNB] To watch Colin Young's exclusive video interview of Djibril Cisse in his shop, click here[LNB]DJBRIL CISSE EXCLUSIVE: I'm no fashion victim - Sunderland have nothing to fear[LNB] [LNB]
